§4.16.1occupationum mearum vel hoc signum erit quod epistula librari manu est.
Even this will be a sign of my occupations, that the letter is in the hand of a copyist.
de epistularum frequentia te nihil accuso, sed pleraeque tantum modo mihi nuntiabant ubi esses, vel etiam significabant recte esse, quod erant abs te.
I do not accuse you at all of the frequency of your letters, but most of them merely informed me where you were, or even indicated that all was well, for the very reason that they were from you.
quo in genere maxime delectarunt duae fere eodem tempore abs te Buthroto datae.
In this class of letters, two sent by you from Buthrotum almost at the same time delighted me most.
scire enim volebam te commode navigasse.
For I wanted to know that you had a favorable voyage.
sed haec epistularum frequentia non tam ubertate sua quam crebritate delectavit.
But this frequency of letters delighted me not so much by its richness as by its quick repetition.
illa fuit gravis et plena rerum quam mihi M. Paccius, hospes tuus, reddidit.
That letter was heavy and full of matters which your host M. Paccius delivered to me.
ad eam rescribam igitur et hoc quidem primum.
To that, therefore, I will reply, and indeed this first.
Paccio ratione et verbis et re ostendi quid tua commendatio ponderis haberet.
I showed Paccius by reason, words, and deed what weight your recommendation had.
itaque in intimis est meis, cum antea notus non fuisset.
And so he is among my most intimate friends, although he had not been known to me before.
§4.16.2nunc pergam ad cetera.
Now I will proceed to the other matters.
Varro, de quo ad me scribis, includetur in aliquem locum, si modo erit locus.
Varro, about whom you write to me, will be included in some place, if only there will be a place.
sed nosti genus dialogorum meorum.
But you know the style of my dialogues.
ut in oratoriis, quos tu in caelum fers, non potuit mentio fieri cuiusquam ab iis qui disputant, nisi eius qui illis notus aut auditus esset, ita hanc ego de re publica quam institui disputationem in Africani personam et Phili et Laeli et Manili contuli.
Just as in the oratorical ones, which you praise to the skies, no mention could be made of anyone by those who dispute, except of someone who was known or heard of by them, so I have transferred this discussion about the republic, which I have begun, to the persons of Africanus, Philus, Laelius, and Manilius.
adiunxi adulescentis Q. Tuberonem, P. Rutilium, duo Laeli generos, Scaevolam et Fannium.
I added the young men Q. Tubero, P. Rutilius, and the two sons-in-law of Laelius, Scaevola and Fannius.
itaque cogitabam, quoniam in singulis libris utor prohoemiis ut Aristoteles in iis quos ἐξωτερικοὺσ vocat, aliquid efficere ut non sine causa istum appellarem; id quod intellego tibi placere.
And so I was thinking, since in each book I use prefaces as Aristotle does in those which he calls ἐξωτερικοὺσ, to bring it about that I might address that friend of yours not without cause; which indeed I understand pleases you.
utinam modo conata efficere possim! rem enim, quod te non fugit, magnam complexus sum et gravem et plurimi oti, quo ego maxime egeo.
If only I could accomplish my attempts! For, as does not escape you, I have undertaken a great and heavy task, and one requiring a great deal of leisure, of which I stand in the greatest need.
§4.16.3quod in iis libris quos laudas personam desideras Scaevolae, non eam temere dimovi sed feci idem quod in πολιτείᾳ deus ille noster Plato.
As to your missing the character of Scaevola in those books which you praise, I did not remove him without consideration, but I did the same as that god of ours, Plato, in his *Republic*.
cum in Piraeum Socrates venisset ad Cephalum, locupletem et festivum senem, quoad primus ille sermo habetur, adest in disputando senex, deinde cum ipse quoque commodissime locutus esset, ad rem divinam dicit se velle discedere neque postea revertitur.
When Socrates had come to the Piraeus to Cephalus, a wealthy and cheerful old man, as long as that first conversation is held, the old man is present at the discussion; then, when he himself also had spoken most appropriately, he says that he wants to depart for a sacrifice, and does not return afterward.
credo Platonem vix putasse satis consonum fore si hominem id aetatis in tam longo sermone diutius retinuisset.
I believe Plato thought it would hardly be appropriate if he had detained a man of that age any longer in so long a conversation.
multo ego magis hoc mihi cavendum putavi in Scaevola, qui et aetate et valetudine erat ea qua eum esse meministi et iis honoribus ut vix satis decorum videretur eum pluris dies esse in Crassi Tusculano.
Much more did I think I must guard against this in the case of Scaevola, who was of such an age and health as you remember him to be, and of such honors that it would scarcely seem fitting for him to spend several days at Crassus' Tusculan villa.
et erat primi libri sermo non alienus a Scaevolae studiis, reliqui libri τεχνολογίαν habent, ut scis.
And the conversation of the first book was not foreign to Scaevola's pursuits, but the remaining books contain technical discussion, as you know.
huic ioculatorem senem illum, ut noras, interesse sane nolui.
I certainly did not want that old joker, as you knew him, to take part in this.